Transcript
What inspires you from WFSU Public Media? Here's this week's Voices That Inspire. My name is Billie Ann Gay, and I am the government relations manager for HCA Healthcare in Florida. I'm passionate about people and problem solving, and I think that's something that keeps me engaged in the workplace is being able to connect people to get things done. For my entire, you know, young life, and then college life, I was an athlete, which I think brings competition and camaraderie to the table. And so I think every role I've had, I've had an interesting path. You know, I started in the professional world as a coach, and then a teacher, and then moved into administration in the schools, started doing some policy work, which kind of thrust me into my role with the Florida School Board's Association and managing their advocacy efforts. And now I find myself in a role in a completely different area, and I think applying a lot of those lessons that I learned through athletics, and through some of the things I was passionate about as a kid, and making that happen at that level. Teaching students and coaching students really gave me a perspective that I've carried through all my professional roles. You get to learn each kid, you know, and you don't choose your class, right? But you get to see different personalities, how they interact with each other, how to adapt to them. And that's kind of how I see not only my colleagues, but legislators I work with or anyone, you know, I think sometimes it's easy to try to be black and white, but if you can see things from everybody's perspective, getting to know people and respecting them from where they come from, even if we disagree, that really keeps things calm. And really it's the job. It's the job, it's to be able to see it from there, and present the arguments on behalf of the client, or behalf of, you know, the organization, but at the end of the day, you stay strong, but you respect the other person and bring decorum to the table. And I really think that experience as a teacher and learning kids has been a really powerful thing for me and my professional journey. Billy and Gay, government relations manager, HCA health care in Florida. You're listening to voices that inspire.